Finally, some positive news about Brexit. The British abandon proposals that could torpedo the deal.

BRUSSELS (Aftenposten): Britain is now scrapping bills that could have altered and downgraded the Brexit deal forever. It is a small advance, but not a Brexit deal.

What the parties agreed to on Tuesday afternoon is certainly not insignificant.

This is the very delicate Northern Ireland settlement, which is part of the divorce settlement and was negotiated last year.

Earlier this fall, the UK surprised the EU by introducing a new bill, the controversial internal market bill, which the EU found violated both the compensation agreement already concluded and the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The EU was surprised. Only rogue states, not the European rule of law, do, were the reactions from Brussels, several other European capitals and the United States.

I was afraid it was the nail in the coffin

Billt created a deep crisis of confidence between the UK and the EU.

Many feared that the bill, if not passed, could be the final nail in the coffin of already troubled negotiations between the EU and Britain.

• The EU believes the proposal is in violation of the Brexit deal and violates Britain’s obligations under international law, and has therefore taken legal action against London.
• The British government believes that the proposal is a safety net that prevents Northern Ireland from having a different customs system than the rest of the UK if there is no Brexit deal.

Therefore, this proposal is the one that the EU and the UK agree to park.

New frontier in the Irish Sea

The fact that this agreement now appears to be in place means that the new border entering the Irish Sea, between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain, can be as fluid and minimal as possible. But they will be border controls.

This is because Northern Ireland will continue to be part of the EU internal market and the EU customs union, while the UK will remain part of the outside.

The United Kingdom thus becomes a kind of external border with Northern Ireland and trade between the two must be regulated in a completely new way.

This agreement came at the time of the count.

While the main negotiations on a future cooperation agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom are on the verge of collapse, Tuesday’s agreement may soften the mood between the parties a bit.

Boris to Brussels to save the stumps

The deal came just hours before Boris Johnson traveled to Brussels in an attempt to salvage the 11th hour Brexit negotiations.

On Monday night, after another failed phone meeting with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, it was agreed on only one thing: that Boris Johnson would travel to Brussels in the hope of making a breakthrough.

– I’m always hopeful, but I must be honest to say that it is very twisted now. We are still very far apart. But you have to be optimistic, you have to believe in the power that lies in common sense, Johnson told the BBC on Tuesday.

Brexit negotiations are well advanced and all deadlines have been missed. And again.

• Now the final deadline is set for Thursday. Then the EU heads of state and government will meet physically in Brussels. That should be the big “make or break” moment.
• An agreement is also needed to give the 27 EU member states and the EU Parliament time to ratify the agreement before the new year.

But not many people believe in this term either. Ireland’s foreign secretary said there was no reason to rush a compromise. Better to negotiate until the new year, he thought.

It starts to smell like procrastination. Once again. The EU contingency plans have been in place for a long time. But the EU is waiting the longest to get them out of the drawer. It will only improve the tram of the drama.